A Meeting of Wits
by Bob Suarez
Summary: Hanatarou Tanaka was living the good life: He has a nice job, he works the stock market on the side and even has a nice home. Despite all this he still feels unfulfilled until he meets Matsu, who sends his comfy life spiralling into the chaos that is the Sekirei Plan!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hanatarou Tanaka leaned back in his chair and sighed, having finished another finance report. Being a 3-year accountant, he has become fairly used to crunching numbers for hours on-end, except he was called into over-time today by his supervisor Hirano Namikaze. Hanatarou deftly arranged the finance report, did a quick once-over to make sure he made no errors and was quickly glad he did; he found a simple error where he forgot to carry a number over and rectified his mistake. Finishing his once-over with a nod to signify his satisfaction, he tucked in the report into a manilla folder and went over to Hirano's desk to deposit it on the "completed" bin. Hinaro, who was busy on the phone with a client, put a hand over the receiver and with the slightest of smiles said, "Good work Tanaka-san. You can head out now, I've kept you working long enough. Hanatarou simply nodded and waved, taking off his coant and slinging it over his shoulder. Before he escaped his workplace, he made a quick detour to the restroom and took a leak, sighing once again but in relief.

_One hell of a day._ Hanatarou mused to himself. _I can't imagine taking anymore overtime like this next week. I'm bound to burn out!_ He shuddered a bit, imagining him absolutely fried trying to work the stock market. _A true recipe for disaster, that._ The young accountant wisely decided it would be in his best interest to leave his current investments alone. He finished his business in the restroom and left the building do bask in the mid-afternoon sun. _I'm still not used to that, working from 6pm to 2am._ Hanatarou pondered. What was to his internal clock evening was to the rest of Shinto Teito the liveliest part of the day. Hanatarou may be too exhausted to work on his own finances, but he figured he could still have a few games of Chess with the old geezers he meets every now and then at the park just down the road. As he strolled over to the crosswalk he lifted his head up and gazed at the clouds, wondering what to do for dinner. Being so submerged in his thoughts, he didn't notice a pair of figures jumping at impossible speeds and bounding inhuman distances from rooftop to rooftop. Hanatarou didn't even notice one of thos figures slipping and falling down into an alleyway and straight into an open dumpster.

Sekirei #02 Matsu's feet got caught on a ledge on that last rooftop she was attempting to leap over and wound up falling into the alleyway below. Being the brain-type she is, she threw her arms and legs out in a skydiver's stance to attempt to control her descent and aimed herself at the open dumpster right in front of her. Tucking in her arms and legs and executing a frontflip, she landed bum-first into the dumpster with an audible "Oof!" Pulling herself from the disgusting refuse, she looked up to see Sekirei #10 Uzume peering down in the alleyway, worry painted all over her beautiful features.

"Matsu! Are you ok?" The Sekirei in question had a banana peel currently slapped on her lips like a starfish and some sort of slimy substance on her palms she'd rather not know the name of, opted for an OK sign with her hands. Uzume snapped her head up to see their pursuers surveying their surroundings, having lost their prey for the moment. Uzume turned back down towards Matsu and called out, "Stay there, I'll lure them away!" Uzume rose from her kneeling position and quickly resumed her flight from the Disciplinary Squad.

Haihane caught the movement with her peripheral vision and focused on the fleeing Veiled Sekirei and called to Benitsubasa, "There she is!" and continued the chase. Thankfully, neither of them bothered to look down the alley they just bounded over to see Matsu cleaning herself off as best as she could. After #02 finished, she slid to the end of the alley and peeked her head out like a certain brown mouse would to make sure a certain blue cat wasn't in the area. Once she deemed it was safe enough, she calmly blended in to the crowd and made her way to the park across the street, hoping the trees would give her overhead cover from MBI's satellites. The bespectacled Sekirei found herself fairly deep in the park and noticed a tall birch tree next to a trio of geezers enjoying a board game and drinks and decided it would be an ideal perch for her wagtail self. Stealthily leaping up to the tree's thick limbs, she took a moment to survey her surroundings through the gaps in the foliage and noticed a young man dressed in the standard working man's outfit trudging over towards the 3 old codgers. That young man turned out to be none other than...

Hanatarou raised a hand in greeting to the three old men on their usual meeting spot while the grandpas all cried out in unison, "Hanatarou-sama!" The first coot went by the name of Kentarou. He was dressed in old work jeans, stained with soil, paint and beer, a blue shirt and with a straw hat upon his cranium like a king's crown. Kentarou rose up from his seat and embraced Hanatarou with a good-natured laugh. The second who responded to Nijima, had a similar ensemble of clothing like Kentarou's, except his shirt was teal and had a breast pocket. From the depths of said pocket, he withdrew a pack of cigarettes and a lighter and offered Hanatarou one, which he declined. The third, named Sanji brought out a bottle of green tea from their cooler and extended it towards Hanatarou, which he graciously accepted with a thank you. Sanji was sporting faded khakis and a light purple shirt, with a red and white baseball cape with a capital N on the front. Nijima spoke up once the young accountant had settled down across from him on the table while Sanji and Kentarou continued their game, "How was work, Hana-sama? We couldn't help but notice you were a tad late in joining us!"

The self-made stockbroker downed a mouthful of green tea and replied, "Rather tiring Nijima. Hirano had to ask I stay for some overtime." The three geezers voiced their outrage simultaneously, as if their baseball team had just struck out on the ninth inning. Considering their age however, it was a rather mild flavour of outrage.

"Why, that good-fer-nothin' superviser of yers, I betcha it was his work an' he didn't feel like doin' it so he just left it to ya!" Sanji grumbled while moving his rook in a position to check his opponent. Kentarou was nodding his silent agreement until he finally looked down at the board and noticed the predicament he was placed in. While the old codger across from him furrowed his brow in concentration, he continued his little rant, "Next time ya see 'im, ya make sure to give 'im a piece of yer mind fer bein' such a lazy good fer nothin'!"

Hanatarou chuckled at his weathered friend's speech, "Sanji, don't you think you're being a bit to presumptuous? It was my client's fault I ended up having to work overtime! He ended up forgetting to file some of his numbers too late." All three old coots once again opened their mouths, undoubtedly to slander said client but the sharp young man interrupted them, "He even sent me a letter personally apologizing, aaand he included a coupon to his brother's ramen place!" On cue, he brandished said coupon from the depths of his coat's pocket. "50% off my order! Guess where we're heading after I had a game, eh?" Sanji and Nijima both whooped for joy after hearing this but Kentarou had a look of skepticism.

"Now hold on just one bloody minute! Which ramen place is this?" He drawled with a squint in his beady eyes. Being a former chef at a four-star restaurant, he took food rather seriously.

Hanatarou smiled, anticipating this line of questioning, "None other than Makunouchi's place, 5 blocks down from here!" The three geezers jaws all dropped, a waterfall of drool suddenly gushing from their chins.

Nijima rose from his seat with the energy of a man 35 years younger, "Well, what are we waiting for?!" He made to run off in the direction of Makunouchi's but was stopped when Kentarou grabbed his forearm, a strong aura of energy surging from him.

"Just where do ya think yer goin' ya senile bastard?" Kentarou sneered, saying words only old friends could get away with saying towards each other. "I ain't done handing Sanji's ass back to 'im!" At this, the four men gathered simultaneously turned towards the board to see Kentarou's right hand reach out to his queen and block the advance on his king while at the same time putting Sanji in checkmate!

Nijima whistled in appreciation at the abrupt reversal of fortunes. "The best defence is a good offence. Well done Kentarou." Kentarou started to bask in the limelight of the compliments but was quickly scowled when Nijima continued, "I guess even a burnt-out old codger like yourself still has a few lucky plays in you, huh?"

Sanji took his loss in stride, knowing he was at fault for not noticing his old friend's gap in his defences was a ploy for him to let down his guard. He rose from his seat at the table and lifted a hand for Kentarou to shake in good sportsmanship. Kentarou didn't leave him hanging; they shook hands and both told the other, "Well played!" and removed themselves from their seats to stretch their weary bones.

Hanatarou played the impartial analyst while all this happened, calling his read of the board's finishing situation with his voice growing in volume with each spoken word, "So Kentarou opened a false hole in his normally stellar defensive line, lured in various power pieces of Sanji in a dangerous game of cat and mouse and struck while on the verge of losing himself! Kentarou, you sly old dog, that could've come back to bite you on the ass hard!" He grinned at the old coot in question. Sanji silently made the next play that would've won him the game, had he had that one more turn to make it. Truly a game only two players could have after knowing each other and their respective play-styles for decades.

Nijima piped up, "Can we go get some delicious ramen now! I'm hungry enough to eat a horse's ass!" Once again, the geezer rose with the energy of someone many decades younger and attempted to run down towards Makunouchi's place, but history repeated itself and he was stopped, this time by Hanatarou, a surge of energy similar to Kentarou's emitting from the young accountant.

"Now you're getting ahead of yourself again, you senile bastard. I still haven't had my game, and there's no way in hell we're gonna go until I've had my fun beating on the elderly!" Hanatarou verbally jabbed at Nijima, already attempting to maneuver himself into a victory by provoking the older man's temper to off-set his game.

Of course, Nijima didn't get to his ripe old age on his rather average looks alone and was quick to catch on to the younger fox's game. He deigned not to dignify Hanatarou's verbal thrust with a response, instead opting to reset the board in preparation for the clash of minds about to take place. Sanji and Kentarou both stood on the sidelines, tired from sitting and each grabbed a fresh drink from the cooler to refresh their dry throats. Both uninvolved geezers gazed down with practiced eyes at the prepared board with the two players of Hanatarou as the black pieces and Nijima as the white and awaited for the figurative bloodbath to begin.

Hanatarou realized his early attempt to rile up Nijima was fruitless and instead decided to let his gameplay do the talking. He opened his arms, saying without words, "Your move." Unbeknownst to the four men, they had a fifth pair of eyes watching their sport from a bird's eye view.

**45 minutes later**

Since the start of the match, Matsu's eyes hadn't left the board. In hindsight, that wasn't the wisest course of action; she was a wanted fugitive being hunted by MBI and their dogs, the Disciplinary Squad had ways of finding their prey. #02 couldn't help it though. She was treated to one hell of a show by the young man underneath her. His cold and calculating attitude was a tank, unyielding and merciless in it's march towards the inevitable conclusion of this mock-war. Her focus on Hanatarou's exemplary gameplay isn't to be interpreted as Nijima lacking skill. The weathered old coot kept the young accountant on his toes, forcing him to make sacrifices or even straight up lose pieces at no cost to himself, much like any seasoned general would. But Nijima's defenses and counter-offenses wouldn't be enough in light of the onslaught unleashed by Hanatarou's precise placement of his forces and Nijima wound up defeated.

Once the bright stockbroker hammered the final nail in the coffin of Nijima's king, the weary old man raised his hands in surrender and huffed out, "Well that's that. Got my ass handed to me by someone old enough to be my grandson, shame on me." He shook his head in disbelief, a cynical laugh escaping his weathered lips.

Hanatarou leaned back and let out the breath he was holding. After finishing his bottle of green tea, he spoke up, "Don't sell yourself short now Nijima. When you sent your bishop to take my knight and put me in check at the same time, I was afraid you were about to go on a killing spree through my forces. And you would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for my meddling rook." The squad of men all erupted in laughter, recognizing where Hanatarou stole that last line from.

Sanji piped up from the sidelines, "Mind if we get going, Hana-sama? It's been a while since we sat down and enjoyed a good bowl of ramen, ya know?"

Hanatarou nodded and rose from his seat, extending a hand in good sportsmanship towards Nijima. Nijima took the offered appendage and both uttered, "Well played!" and prepared to leave for Makunouchi's ramen stand. The unseen spy on the previous game watched Hanatarou stroll away with his posse. _What an interesting human. _Matsu pondered. _His strategy was sound and his tactics were very flexible. His mind, despite his young age is kept to a very keen edge. I can't help but wonder what else he practices~ _#02's perverted nature taking over as she chuckled with a blush. Matsu ceased her cackling immediately and raised her hands to her face, feeling the heat in her cheeks. "No way... I'm reacting?" she whispers to herself.

After treating himself and his chessmates to ramen, Hanatarou bid warewell to the old coots and head off towards his home. As he entered the keypad combination to his locked gate, he gazed up at his two-story home and shook his head. "Why did I get the six-bedroom three-bathroom complex again?" He muttered to himself. Hanatarou just shook his head once again and made his way to the front door, keys in hand. "I'm home!...Not like anyone else even lives here." He called out to himself. He hung his coat on the rack by the door and slid his shoes into a basket at the mouth of the hallway leading to the various rooms in his home. The young accountant trudged towards the kitchen, dropping his briefcase on one of the four chairs surrounding his table and waltzed over to the fridge to pour himself a glass of grapefruit juice. He chugged down the juice quickly and started stripping on the way to his bathroom for a shower, keeping all the clothes he wormed out of slung over his shoulder so he could deposit them in his laundry basket. As he bathed himself, he started to reflect upon his life. _Working as an accountant and managing stocks on the side, no real close friends beside that trio of old codgers and no girlfriend...am I really ok with that? _He asked himself, as if expecting a voice in his head other than his own to answer. Of course, none responded to his inquiry. _ I mean, it's not like I have a BAD life. I already own the house, I've got more than enough finances to keep me afloat for a year, I'm healthy. It's just...something's missing. Something to fill the void of extra time I've got and I just don't know what. What could it be?_ The unhappy young man shook his head at his own mental question. He's been asking himself the same question for a year and a half. A small part of him wants to give up his pursuit of happiness and just go with the flow; it's not like he really needed to go out of his way to fill the gap in his life, it wasn't really impeding him from his routine. He was self-disciplined enough to keep on keeping on. After thinking that, another part of him started to boil up to the surface. Give up? That just went against his nature.

Hanatarou decided he'd be better off resting than thinking about his existential crisis right now. Finishing up his shower and drying himself off, he left the bathroom and went to his room to change into his nightly wear of a muscle shirt and basketball shorts. He shambled down to the living room, forgetting his earlier decision to think about it in the morning, completely oblivious to the fact someone was seated in his kitchen, enjoying a snack.

A/N: Apparantly didn't like my previous fix and deigned to have me do that re-write after all! I kept for the most part true to the first chapter, just added a tad more of "me" into it now that I'm getting more in the swing of things. I would've gotten this out to you on the same day I "fixed" chapter 1's spacing last Saturday, but life happened. Unfortunately, this kept my fourth and so far largest chapter from coming out and since I've got uni stuff to do all week, I'm going to be hard-pressed to add the finishing touches on that chapter. Worry not my readers, as I'm writing this, it is at I'd say three-fourths the way there so the wait won't be much longer. Feel free to leave me your constructive criticisms in a review or PM me about them if you so wish, and most importantly, I hope you enjoy my little tale here. Until next time, this is B. Suarez signing off.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Matsu was enjoying her snack of leftover taoyaki and a cup of tea from the fridge when she looked up from her food and spotted Hamatarou coming from the hallway to her left. _It seems he's unaware of my presence. _Matsu noted with a smile. _Let's see how long it takes for him to notice me._ #02 kept eating, making sure to stay quiet and keeping an eye on Hamatarou. The oblivious one sat down on a recliner in front of his television, not turning on the device just yet. He decided to keep thinking about whatever he was thinking. Matsu noticed he has a habit of moving his head side to side when he's thinking about something really hard. She raised her hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle. _What an amusing human! First his sharp intellect he's shown in handing that geezer's ass to him at his own game, now this truly adorable little habit of his. _Matsu mused. She noted it might take a while for him to re-emerge into reality so she opted to make her presence known. Matsu cleared her throat audibly and called out to Hamatarou, "Hello there~!"

Hamatarou, having been incredibly deep in thought, was slow to react. He rose from his seat and looked in the direction of the voice, not really registering there was a stranger in his home. He took a moment to take in her appearance. She had round glasses on her face, reddish-brown hair, waist-length and tied into two braids and a figure women would kill for, from her massive breasts to the slim, tight waist and her large and shapely hips. She wore a sky-blue Chinese style dress which ended just above her knees and was split at the sides to show off her full thighs. Her complexion was a rather pale peach, almost as if she hasn't really seen much sun. Then his eyes started to open wide and various emotions started to show themselves all over his face, the most prominent being shock. He figured since the strange woman in his kitchen snacking on his food would make herself known by verbally calling out to him, she mustn't really mean him any harm. Nevertheless, she broke into his home and is a stranger so he opted to respond, "How did you get in here?"

Matsu's lips curved upwards. Naturally he'd ask what was on his mind, and what else would be his first question than that? Matsu waved her hand dismissively and answered, "Nothing a bobby pin couldn't handle."

Hamatarou's eyes narrowed at this, not buying such a simple answer. _For starters, did she just jump the fence? And what about_-

"Oh, and the security system revealed how to unlock itself. And really, the passcode to the gate is 1111?" Matsu released a melodic giggle at this. "You're not a very imaginative fellow are you?"

Hamatarou's face flushed at her almost condescending comments. _She tricked the security system into unlocking ITSELF? So she hacked into it?_ He shook his head, before he delved deeper into his mind trying to figure out the meaning behind her statements and looked up at where she was seated, only to see she wasn't there anymore. Hamatarou tilted his head slightly in confusion, until he felt a presence to his right and saw her seated on his sofa, with her legs crossed and her head resting on her hand with a smile gracing her admittedly gorgeous face. Hamatarou found his voice again, "Would you mind telling me why you broke into my home? And how would be nice, but something tells me a thief wouldn't share the tricks to her trade."

Matsu's face fell in mock hurt, "Matsu? A thief?" She then realized that title isn't entirely false when it's used to address her, considering what she has in her sleeve from MBI. However her smile didn't falter and she continued, "Perish the thought! Matsu just wanted to congratulate you on your handy victory on that old man, what was his name?" She paused, trying to remember his name.

_She call__s__ herself Matsu. I guess that's her name, __for now__. _Then Hamatarou registered what she said. The accountant's brow was already slightly furrowed in confusion but now it was well on it's way to forming even more wrinkles, "You were watching my game with the old geezer Nijima?" He thought back to his match with the crafty coot, distinctly remembering no one was close enough to see anything. "But you weren't anywhere close to watch the game...wait, are you...a stalker?"

At this, Matsu openly laughed. Partly because it was true in a way and partly because he figured it out so quickly. _You're just full of surprises, aren't you Hamatarou?_ Matsu decided to play along with his latest accusation. "As expected of the subject of my deep love, you guessed right! Matsu is your stalker~!" She made weird grabby motions with her hands and her glasses became rather obtuse. "Now tell Matsu where you keep your toe nail clippings~!"

Hamatarou sweat-dropped and backed away from the strange woman while she advanced towards him at the same pace. "Right well, uh..." Hamatarou was at a loss for words. "Look, I'll give you my toe nails, just get out of here afterwords!" Now Matsu laughter spiraled out of control, to the point she grabbed her sides and leaned forward, showing Hamatarou a generous amount of her cleavage. Hamatarou's face took on a rosy hue once again, plus he was starting to get irritated. _Laugh at me eh?_ He fumed. "What's so darn funny?!"

Matsu took her glasses off for a moment, breathed deep to calm herself down and wiped a tear from her right eye. "Oh Hamatarou, you are! You're so easily flustered, Matsu couldn't help but tease you." Matsu snickered a bit more but kept a lid on it as she noticed Hamatarou is starting to get angry.

"Yeah, well you can go yuck it up after I call the police on your stalker ass." He grumbled, finally fed up with this strange woman. Matsu's eyes widened at this threat, since MBI had men inside the various precincts.

"W-wait! Please don't call the police! Matsu apologizes for teasing you!" Matsu reached out and grabbed Hamatarou's forearm before he went any further.

Hamatarou looked at Matsu incredulously. "Wait? You broke into my house!" He near shouted, and since they were in such close proximity, Matsu cowed slightly at the power of his voice. Hamatarou slapped his free hand to his face and dragged it down slowly. _She hasn't openly tried to harm me and nothing looks stolen now that I look around. Maybe I should just let her go?_ He took in her pleading look through the gap in his fingers and sighed, "I'm willing to overlook this, just get out of here."

Matsu realized her chance to talk to Hamatarou one-on-one was slipping out of her hands. "Hold on! Matsu wishes to challenge you to a game of chess!" At this Hamatarou dropped his hand from his face, paused and faced her. Matsu took this time to really get a good look at his visage and saw he was fairly handsome and the warmth that spread through her core surged once again. _Oh, I'm definitely reacting __to Hamatarou__...but I don't know if I can get him to accept me just yet. So I'll just..._ "If I win, you'll listen to my request."

Hamatarou, being a man who never backed away from a challenge was put in a position where he'd have to accept, asked, "And what if I win?"

Matsu paused, not really knowing what to offer the young man. "Well, Matsu can't say...what do you want?" she decided directly asking him would be the best way to assure he'd accept.

At this, Hamatarou tilted his head slightly. After a quick second thinking about it, he responded, "How about you tell me your actual reasons for being here, and how my security system 'revealed' how to unlock itself? I'm going to guess you hacked it, but there's failsafes for that and you blew past it without even a peep. That's actually impressive." He admitted to the voluptuous woman in front of him.

Matsu blushed slightly at the compliment. "Matsu accepts your conditions. Do we have an agreement?" She extended her hand, wanting to shake on it. Hamatarou nodded and shook her hand, accepting the verbal contract. Hamatarou then moved towards the coffee table to the side of his recliner and lifted the glass chess board with its pieces already set. He then moved over to the kitchen's table and set it there, taking the obtuse glass pieces, which were the black ones. Hamatarou gestured towards the other side of the table and waited for Matsu to take her seat.

Hamatarou opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and stood up again. Matsu looked up at him in mild confusion and then realization when she saw Hamatarou grab a timer. Matsu then remarked, "Blitz chess, is it?" Hamatarou nodded, deciding he'd play this game with everything he can to his advantage. _I agreed to whatever request she'd have if she wins. Naturally she's not GOING to win so I'd better make sure of it by stacking the cards in my favour._ He thought to himself, feeling satisfaction at his own maneuvering.

Hamatarou spoke up, "Best two out of three?" Matsu nodded her consent and decided to go help herself to a re-fill of green tea. At this Hamatarou scowled, "Usually a guest, if I can even call you that, asks her host for a drink."

#02 had the decency to look ashamed of herself and humbly said, "Thank you very much for your hospitality." The red haired Sekirei re-focused on the matter at hand. Matsu was no slouch when it came to thinking quickly and since she was a Sekirei, she was confident in her ability to oust Hamatarou at his own game. Hamatarou used the same gesture he did with his match with Nijima earlier today. Matsu took the cue by slapping the timer on, immediately making her opening move and slapping the timer again signifying Hamatarou's turn.

Hamatarou, being the black pieces, statistically has a higher chance of losing but it was his style to await the first move. He opted to use the time they spent playing to interrogate Matsu, "So tell me, my stalker." At this Matsu giggled again but quickly re-focused, not wanting to take Hamatarou lightly. "What exactly made me the target of 'your deep love?'" Hamatarou put emphasis on the last part in a way Matsu could tell he obviously didn't believe she was his stalker. Slap (the timer, in case you guys couldn't tell).

Matsu made eye contact, dropping all semblances of jokes and decided the quickest way to make him accept her was the truth: "Your chess game. It showed just how sharp you are and you took those old geezers out to eat with your pay. Plus they called you 'Hana-sama,' which leads me to believe you've gone out of your way to treat them before." Matsu settled her piece down on the board. Slap.

After processing the last part of her confession, he realized she was right. _Why the hell did I treat those geezers to some ramen? Sure it was at a discount, but that still cost me. Being an accountant, I know what those little expenses do to a checkbook. Are they my friends? But we just play games occasionally when I visit them at that park table._ Hamatarou withdrew from his thoughts, moved his piece and continued his line of questioning, "So what, I prove I'm smart and all of a sudden you want to break into my home to see how smart? If that's all it takes to get a woman interested in you, I ought to have a different one coming in and out of this house on the daily. I'm not buying it." Slap.

Matsu looked up at him again. _Naturally, a bit of an ego. He's the kind of guy who's right a lot and quite used to it. I can see why, he's on the money with his analysis. _"There's that razor wit again. You just saw Matsu's supposed 'intentions' were false. Plus, even though Matsu deceived you, you're giving Matsu a chance. And now Matsu confirmed you've got a bit on an ego on you Hama-tan~" The use of -tan made Hamatarou raise his eye and look at Matsu severely. Slap.

"Don't call me 'Hama-tan'. No one calls me 'Hama-tan'." Hamatarou noticed he's getting irritated, so he attempted to calm himself down by breathing a little deeper and going about a mental exercise to re-focus his mental energies on the matter at hand. "So you've admitted you're here for a different reason than stated previously. I'm going to ask again, why are you here?" Slap.

Matsu smirked at his latest question. "Trying to get your prize ahead of time Hama-tan, for shame. You're acting as if you already wooon!" Matsu was trying to get a rise out of Hamatarou just like he did before with Nijima, except this time it was working. Hamatarou grit his teeth slightly and had a bit of a frown gracing his face. Matsu kept the smirk on her face, "Why don't you ask the question that's really on your mind, Hama-kun~?" Slap.

Hamatarou realized he was being messed with, but for some reason he couldn't quite rein in his irritation at the situation. He decided to try to turn the tables on her by asking a rather left-field question: "What are your three sizes?" On the outside he held his poker face, but internally he just face-palmed. _NOT what I was going to ask! Now I seem like the creep!_ Of course, the question was pretty out there so Matsu naturally reacted, a startled jump, a "Huh?!" and a blush creeping up to her cheeks. Naturally, even Hamatarou was a little shook up from his own question, an even more intense blush painting his face. "You heard me, what are your three sizes?" Slap.

Matsu adjusted her glasses and wiggled in her seat a little. _Muu, what an outrageous man~! So booold~! I'm falling for him even more~! _Matsu gushed to herself. She then noticed the blush on Hamatarou's face and she smiled her pervert smile. "B 95, W 58, H 91." She figured straight up answering would fluster him even further and show Matsu an even cuter side to her future Ashikabi. As expected, Hamatarou's complexion approached a shade resembling a tomato; Matsu couldn't keep in her giggles and nearly forgot to move her piece. Slap.

Hamatarou tried valiantly to keep his composure, but cracks were starting to show and he knew Matsu could tell. Due to his shock about her actually answering his question, he ended up blurting out, "Your bust is **how** big?!" and he even took a peek at her glorious breasts, damn his male mind. Matsu couldn't contain herself, started blushing even harder, lightly slapped both hands to her face and cried out, "Iyaaan, Hama-tan hentaaaiii*! Don't stare at Matsu's breasts~!" Matsu started smirking her pervert smirk. "Or rather, don't stare at Matsu's breasts with this dress ooon~" Matsu pulled at one side of her dress, showing off more of her right breast. This finally threw Hamatarou over the edge and he proceeded to erupt blood from his nose, falling back into his seat and landing on the floor, nearly blacked out. Matsu again started laughing at her future ashikabi's expense and didn't stop for a good minute while Hamatarou tried, and failed, to regain his composure. Finally, he rose from the floor, righted his seat and sat down, only for the timer to ring and for him to study the board and see he lost the first match.

Hamatarou couldn't believe it. Matsu just blew through his guard and flustered him into her first victory. His normally iron-clad self-control was in shambles! _This woman, who the hell is she?! And how shameless can she be, showing her breasts to a full-grown man like that! What if I attacked her? W-wait, I wouldn't do that!_ Hamatarou thought to himself convincingly (or so he thought). Matsu finally calmed down from her laughter and looked at Hamatarou with a rather cute smile. "What's the matter Hama-taaan, are you thinking ecchi** thoughts again~?" Hamatarou looked at #02 severely again and didn't answer, opting to reset the timer and both sets of pieces on the board. "Oh that's right, time for the final round," Matsu mentioned in an off-handed fashion. Hamatarou didn't miss that little comment but he knew her game now. Matsu was trying to fluster him into submission, basically. He figured if he just didn't respond to any of her advances and _watch what I fucking say!_ He thought that last part to himself rather loudly, he'd be just fine. Instead of immediately talking to the perverted devil of a woman in front of him, he deigned to gesture once again, that the first move was hers. She opted for the same opening move as last time. Slap.

"I'm sure you know, but that still wasn't the question I meant to ask." Hamatarou stated and Matsu nodded at this, realizing her future ashikabi was all business for now. "What I mean to ask is, how did you see my game against Nijima? You weren't around to watch it, the only thing close enough to us to even see the game was that birch tree, and I'm sure it wasn't intere-" He stopped mid-word, coming to a realization. Hamatarou couldn't finish his sentence, instead just looking at Matsu questioningly. Slap.

"Very good Hama-kun! You're right, Matsu was in the tree. Oh, and before you ask, it was to hide from some dangerous people." Matsu told Hamatarou in a tame fashion, a complete 360 from her dragging of certain words and girl-ish teasing, and went on "And before you ask the next question, Matsu is afraid telling you who was chasing me or why would be dangerous to your health, unless you accept my request." At this, Hamatarou made a sour face and opened his mouth to say something, but Matsu interrupted, "And before you say what you want to say, Matsu is not trying to coerce you into throwing this game, Matsu is just telling you how it is." Matsu looked at her future ashikabi wistfully, almost as if she genuinely wished she could tell him right then and there, but couldn't. Slap.

Hamatarou withdrew into his own thoughts momentarily to digest what he learned. _What could she be running from? Obviously Matsu has a brain almost as sharp as mine. _Hamatarou pondered, completely oblivious as to how egotistic that last part was. _What could she have done to have such dangerous people chasing her? I didn't see anyone running through the park looking for anyone, but it's not as if I was searching for people looking for other people. Could she be lying? I d__o__ sense a ring of truth in her words though..._ Hamatarou decided to return to reality and opted not to question Matsu further for now. Slap.

Matsu immediately noticed his lack of questions and decided it was time for her to bring a few of her own up. "Can Matsu ask you some questions now?" She queried with a tilt of her beautiful head. Hamatarou nodded with no hesitation; after all, it was only fair she gets some answers of her own. "Would you believe it if Matsu wasn't a human?" At this Hamatarou looked at her suspiciously, suspecting some form of foul play. _She sure as hell looks human to me..._ Hamatarou said to himself. Slap.

Hamatarou decided to voice his concerns aloud, "Not really, you sure look human to me. Although, you're beauty is admittedly out of this world..." That last part was muttered to himself and even with Matsu's enhanced Sekirei hearing, she couldn't quite catch the end of his answer. She knew better than to ask though, Hamatarou would've spoken up if she was to hear it. Slap.

Matsu smiled wistfully once again, "Well, Matsu is actually something known as a Sekirei. And you are a human known as an Ashikabi." She decided to stop dropping bombshells for now, letting Hamatarou ask a couple questions she knew he was going to ask. Slap.

As per Matsu's expectations, Hamatarou took the bait, "Alright, I'll bite. I'm going to assume in the context of 'Sekirei', you aren't referring to the birds. However, I've never heard that word Ashikabi before, what are they?" Slap.

Matsu got straight to the brass tacks: "Sekirei are beings from another planet. There's currently 108 of us around Shinto Teito and we're supposed to participate in the Sekirei Plan. And what the Sekirei Plan is the 108 Sekirei find their Ashikabis, humans like you," Matsu pointed as she said you to Hamatarou and continued, "to bond to them and fight, and fight and fight..." At this part, Matsu trails off, personally not being a fan of the Sekirei Plan. She shook herself from her stupor and continued.  
"Until there's only one Ashikabi and Sekirei pair left standing. Ashikabis are...regular humans such as yourself who have the potential to "wing" Sekirei. Each Sekirei has their own "destined" Ashikabi and hopefully they find them and the Ashikabi will accept them." Matsu paused once again, deciding to allow Hamatarou a few questions. The timer was forgotten from both sides of the game.

"I'm going to take an educated guess here that you broke in here to find your destined Ashikabi, me. Right?" Matsu blushed lightly at this and nodded. Hamatarou continued, "How do you go about winging a Sekirei? Who's behind this Sekirei Plan? And fight? In what, martial arts competitions? Chess tournaments?" Hamatarou last statement ended with an upward inflection, Matsu's answers to his questions just raising more interrogatives.

Matsu giggled and remarked, "'How do you go about winging a Sekirei?' Why Hama-taaan, do you want to wing Matsu~?" She said with a touch of hope in her voice? Hamatarou blushed at this, realizing this winging business might be rather intimate or was just made out to be by the accursed pervert in front of him. He motioned with his hands to get on with her explanation. Matsu giggled again and decided to oblige her future Ashikabi, "There's a few ways to go about winging a Sekirei, but the simplest one is a kiss." Her left hand rose to her face and her index and middle fingers touched her lips slightly, imagining what it would be like to kiss Hamatarou. She was getting ahead of herself though, and continued her explanations. "As to who is behind the Sekirei Plan, Matsu can't reveal unless you accept Matsu as your Sekirei. And as to how we fight, well. Watch this." Matsu then put her right hand to her temple and made Hamatarou's living room television turn out and change channels at her will. The egotistic Ashikabi swiveled in his seat and watched his television be controlled, seemingly by Matsu's ESP and turned back to watch the perverted Sekirei of Wisdom also turn on his microwave, coffee maker, oven and such from her seated position in front of him. Matsu chortled at Hamatarou's dropped jaw and starting guffawing even louder when she noticed he was starting to sweat.

Hamatarou swallowed audibly and decided he'd best comply with Matsu, "Well, considering you're an esper, I guess I'd better comply or you're going to rip me to pieces or something." Matsu blanched at his statement and looked at him closely. Hamatarou was afraid of her!

Matsu rose from her seat suddenly with a tear in her eye. "No! Don't be afraid of Matsu, Hamatarou! Matsu wouldn't hurt you..." Once again her perverted nature got the best of her, "Unless you wouldn't mind Matsu experimenting on you a little roughly, huhuhuh~!" At this Hamatarou paled and stood from his seat, realizing she really was a pervert, but still rather afraid of the superpowered beauty before him. Matsu noticed he was still afraid of her, and started to advance towards Hamatarou slowly with her palms open in a sign of surrender, "Matsu thinks you've misunderstood two things Hama-tan. One, my power isn't esp, or at least on all objects." At this Hamatarou's face turned into a question mark. _How can you have ESP but only on certain objects? _Then he remembered how the Green Lantern's ring couldn't affect anything yellow and decided to hear her out. "Matsu can only control technology, and even then only to a certain extent. Of course, should Matsu emerge Matsu's control would expand, but Matsu wouldn't expect it to be that much better. The second thing is, Matsu's power is much weaker when it comes to control of technology. Matsu is more intel-based. Matsu can act as a thought transmitter which means..." '_Matsu can speak into your mind, where it's much harder to keep things to yourself. Which is why Matsu is going to tell you the following this way. I would never hurt you Hana-tan.'_ Hearing #02's voice in his head was disconcerting to say the least, but the soon-to-be Ashikabi kept his cool on the outside at least. Hamatarou had stopped retreating and Matsu could finally get her hands on him. She wrapped her arms around his chest and embraced him, squeezing her large bust on his chest. "Please Hamatarou, I just want you to love me." Hamatarou couldn't help the blush or the beginning of a reaction from his nether regions. _Like any man could, she just wanted him and she looked as drop dead beautiful as she did? _Matsu decided it was now or never: "Hamatarou Tanaka, will you accept Matsu as your Sekirei and be Matsu's Ashikabi?" The Sekirei of Wisdom's eyes never leaving Hamatarou's face as she pleaded.

Hamatarou couldn't look her in the face for a while, clearly blushing and trying his hardest to remain in control of himself until he finally looked down and saw not a superpowered alien, a pervert who couldn't help but tease him or a rapier intellect capable of going toe-to-toe with him in a meeting of wits, but a woman hoping for the man she wished for to love her. And as a man, how could he not answer her? He thought about how Matsu continuously surprised him, by breaking through the wall around his heart, predicting things he wanted to say and even managing to out-wit him in a game of minds he was very familiar with. _There won't be another woman like her coming along in my life-time, and I'd be lying if I said I felt no attraction to her as a person..._ Hamatarou mused. After staring at her milk-chocolate coloured eyes for 5 seconds, he placed an arm around her waist and another on the back of her neck and gave her a deep kiss. Matsu audibly moaned in his lips and her legs went weak as the heat coursing through her body flared through every part of her being. Yellow wings of light, reaching through half the living room and stretched to the walls of Hamatarou's kitchen extended and surrounded the Sekirei symbol grew out of her back and faded away once their kiss ended. Matsu face was glowing with a blush and her own happiness as she wrapped her arms around her Ashikabi's neck and buried her face in the crook of his neck. After snuggling her Ashikabi for a few seconds, she reached up, grabbed Hamatarou's face and kissed him again, causing her yellow wings to burst forth once more. "#02 Matsu, at your service Ashikabi-sama, forever and ever."

*'Hentai' means pervert here. And yeah, to some of you guys this is incredibly redundant but not all of us are enli-erm savvy on stuff like this.

**'ecchi' being perverted. Japanese does shit like that.

A/N: There we go! Hamatarou is officially in the Sekirei Plan thanks to Matsu. Will he be experimented on by next morning? And who's next to join Matsu as Hamatarou's Sekirei? Find out next time on Drag- erm, A Meeting of Wits!

Edit 1: Did a little maintenance, I guess you could say. I would like an actual proof-reader though if possible. If not I'll release 3 MK. I's, revise them, then get to writing more. Yeah it seems a little weird but I like to get new material hot off the presses and then let myself cool down so I can see what I did wrong as objectively as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hanatarou is in a very peculiar situation. Looking up and down the street he found himself in, he noticed there wasn't a soul in sight. Hanatarou's brow furrowed in confusion, broken by his sudden snicker as he imagined a tumbleweed bounding past him, then went back to his puzzled look. _Is there some sort of festival happening in another district and no one bothered sending me a memo? _He wondered. Upon closer inspection of his surroundings, he is struck with a feeling of dé jà vu. It's like his body remembers strolling down this road but his mind knows for a fact he's never been here before. Realizing nothing would happen if he simply stared at everything around him, Hanatarou faced North and started trudging up the incline. As he climbed further and further, a strange warmth started to envelop his body and his stomach was in the calmest state of unrest it's ever been in and he unconsciously accelerated to just short of a power walk. As Hanatarou reached the peak of the incline, he froze. In front of him was a woman taller than Matsu but shorter than him, in a pair of faded, torn jeans and wearing a pink-ish purple shirt and had long, milk chocolate coloured hair. He couldn't see her face or most of her upper torso for that matter, as the sun was at the perfect spot behind her to obscure Hanatarou's vision. "Sooo, you're the Ashikabi Matsu chose! I'm surprised you're not a woman, but at least she doesn't have bad taste." At this, she slinked a few steps closer. "Why don't you tell me your name, handsome?"

The young man in question raised his left hand to the back of his head, acting a little bashful after the compliment and a good walk. "Hanatarou Tanaka. I'm guessing you're a Sekirei?"

The mysterious woman started circling around Hanatarou, examining his figure with a practiced eye and finally giving him a look at her beautiful face and perfect body models would do unholy rituals for. Keeping eye contact was a real test on the gentlemanly ways the casual stockbroker's mother raised him with. "That's right! I'm #10, Uzume."

The young accountant spoke up again, "Where are we? And why do I feel like a piece of beef being examined for choice cuts for a barbeque?" He was starting to feel unnerved after Uzume made her third circle around him, her smiling face growing slowly wider.

Uzume let out a short laugh at his comment, "Why, we're in a shared dream! Both of us are asleep, but fate has linked our minds together for this short moment so would meet, so to speak." At this, Hanatarou tilted his head to the right and his mouth opened, as if trying to speak but not quite knowing what to say. Uzume giggled again and continued, "Yeah, I don't really get it either. You should ask Matsu about it when you wake up in a few seconds though. Oh, and make sure to tell her I'll be along shortly!" Immediately after the veiled Sekirei finished that sentence, Hanatarou's eyes snapped open to the sight of his bedroom ceiling. As his mind was gradually shaking sleep's embrace, he noticed there was a warmth unlike any he's ever experienced before wrapped around his laying form. He looked down to see a head full of reddish-brown hair. Not being a morning person, it took him a while to register that Matsu was sound asleep on his chest, her breathing perfectly synchronized with his own. Hanatarou wasn't surprised, considering Matsu refused to sleep anywhere unless he was right next to her. He started to lift Matsu slightly and slide out from underneath her, making sure to tuck her in once he was standing. Matsu unconsciously noticed the lack of contact with her Ashikabi and her left hand reached out to grab him but missed. She immediately started squirming slightly and breathed out, "Hana-tan..." At this, Hanatarou's face lit up and took 2 long strides back. It goes without saying, having a sweet-smelling 10/10 woman sleep on him would give him a case of morning wood like no other. Clearly having an internal affairs issue with himself, Hanatarou's gentlemanly teachings ended up winning out. He rushed silently out of the room and made a bee-line to the bathroom to begin his morning rituals.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Matsu sat up, wide awake, with a frown on her face. "Damn, I almost had him too!" She ground her fists childishly into the bed covers. After pouting for a few seconds, she threw herself back in a laying position and sighed, scolding herself slightly for letting him get away bother her; it was only the first night after all and started to smile while wrapping her arms around herself. "At least I know he's attracted to me."

Hanatarou stepped out of the bathroom, taking a moment to stretch his long limbs and trudged downstairs towards the kitchen. Since it's the first morning of Matsu's stay here, he figured he might as well make it a good one, and the first step to that was with a good breakfast. As he opened his fridge and began to withdraw eggs, butter, sliced turkey breast and bacon, he sunk into his own thoughts to organize his questions for Matsu. Before they went to sleep, Hanatarou had an awful lot of questions for the Sekirei of Wisdom, but her previous flight from the Disciplinary Squad was rather taxing on her; after all, she was even weaker on the physical side than an elemental-type Sekirei. Of course, Hanatarou himself isn't aware of this. As far as he knows, Matsu collapsed due to not eating a thing and spending her time looking for her Ashikabi.

As the accountant was finishing the last of breakfast (seared salmon, with a touch of his own blend of spice that's doesn't have too much kick so people who can't handly spicy food could still enjoy, plus it has a robust, deep flavour), he heard his bedroom door open and looked up to see his first Sekirei nearly in all her glory; she still had on her undergarments, (un)fortunately. Thankfully for Hanatarou, he had a good poker face. Unbeknownst to him though, was Matsu's ability has amplified since being winged by the part-time stockbroker; she knew exactly effect her near naked appearance had on Hanatarou. A brief, perverted smirk unseen by Hanatarou spoke her intentions of, the fun has yet to begin. The perverted Sekirei tossed her hair and took a seat on the medium-sized table at the edge of the kitchen and with a more tame smile greeted her Ashikabi with a, "Good morning, Hana-tan~! What smells so good?"

Hana-tan responded with a, "Good morning Matsu. Did you sleep well?" and deigned to answer her question about the smell by serving her breakfast. The traditional white rice and miso soup for both of them, the staple entree of the previously mentioned salmon, slices of pineapple and a glass of grapefruit juice was layed out on the table for Matsu, with a bacon, tomato and cheese omelete and more of those pineapple slices for Hanatarou. The young Ashikabi relished in Matsu's slightly dropped jaw and the subtle widening of her eyes at the veritable feast (of course it only seemed big to Matsu, as she hadn't eaten since the day she escaped MBI) and took the option to tease her a bit. "Jeez, no need to look so surprised a guy living alone is self-sufficient."

Matsu, taking the verbal prod in stride, was quick on the up-take and her face fell into a mock pout, "Ohh? You're kicking me out now Hana-tan?" #02 started shedding crocodile tears. "What will poor, poor Matsu do now~, kicked out by the man she loves out on to the curb~?" False sobs shook her voluptuous figure.

Hanatarou didn't understand how he knew, but he could tell Matsu was just ribbing him. "Stow it, you. You're well aware I swore to take responsibility before you practically blacked out in my arms." The sharp accountant noticed Matsu picking up her chopsticks before she had her wrist slapped. The pervert drew her hand back, shocked her Ashikabi would do such a thing, even if she was being over-dramatic; the slap was really just a light tap. Hanatarou pointed back towards the room and stated, "Get dressed before you eat, would you?" _As much as I'm enjoying the show, I don't want to end up in the hospital from blood-loss, _he thought that last part. Hana-tan's face scrunched up a tad in confusion, his thoughts derailed as he couldn't help but wonder the meaning behind Matsu's knowing smile. _It's like she's reading my mind._

Hana-tan shook his head, stopping that line of thought before he distracted himself further from his prepared questions. He sat down upon the table and began to eat in advance, so he could get to the questions as soon as possible. His seemingly mean decision to eat before his guest joined him turned out to be a smart one; as soon as Matsu returned in her sky-blue dress, she inhaled her feast and immediately asked for seconds. They wound up finishing at the same time and took a moment to bask in the feeling of a satisfying meal. Hanatarou opted to re-break the ice, "So. You kind of conked out on me before I could really get the dirty details on the Sekirei Plan."

Matsu re-positioned her glasses on her face and her aura immediately took a more serious and knowledgeable feel to it. "As expected of the man I chose. He's going to use me the first morning after he wings me~!" The serious aura didn't even last 4 seconds, a new record for the perverted Sekirei of Wisdom. Hana-tan's face deadpanned, didn't even dignify that with a response and waited for her to continue. Matsu pouted for a moment, then got straight to the brass tacks, "Maybe it would speed things up if Hana-tan asked for specifics?"

Hana-tan sat up and didn't hesitate, "Who started this Sekirei Plan? I may have barely learned about Sekirei last night, but my first impression of you leads me to believe you're a little too intelligent to do a battle royale for the fun of it."

Matsu doesn't miss a beat, "The plan was designed by MBI, more specifically the president of the company, Minaka Hiroto. His true reasons are known only to him, but if you ask me it's to stroke his God complex." Hearing Matsu say that last part so seriously, Hana-tan had no choice but to take it as fact.

"Alright, so what exactly does it mean for a Sekirei to bond to an Ashikabi?" Hana-tan's line of inquiry was far from over.

Once again with flawless tempo, Matsu answered, "For a Sekirei, it's like the ritual humans call marriage." At this, the young stockbroker's eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Don't misunderstand. It's not legally binding, so you have the option to go out and date your human women. Although, Matsu has seen many pictures of what's available, and while Matsu doesn't mean to brag, but..." #02's voice dropped and she opted to push out her chest and run a hand through her currently laid-down hair, letting her fantastic figure do the talking.

Hana-tan couldn't help but interject with a smile, "And you tease **me** about my ego." He chided.

Matsu giggled, admitted a "Touché," and was once again struck with the impulse to tease her witty Ashikabi, "One thing Matsu must remind you of, we Sekirei are powerful beings with strong feelings of love towards our Ashikabi. We might just get jealous and take it out on you, you know~?" Hana-tan's face immediately dropped to a poker-face that would have been convincing, if it wasn't for the beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead as he realized how true her last sentence was. Being the sharp man he was though, he noted Matsu said "we" and immediately queried about her use of plural form.

Matsu couldn't help her subconscious desire to immediately head over to her Ashikabi and embrace him. _Nothing gets past him. _She mused with a sigh as she wrapped her arms around his chest, then dropping them to his rear for a quick squeeze. The pervert got a repeat performance of her breakfast wrist slapping, except with a marginal increase in force. A lecherous giggle could be heard from the depths of Hana-tan's chest, "Oh Hana-tan~ you should know I don't mind it if you're rougher with me~ As a matter of fact, I don't mind role-playing the Swo-"

"Matsu, for the love of Kami, do not finish that reference!" He almost shouted. Matsu's head snapped back, and her hands moved to his chest, immediately thinking of an apology then looked at her Ashikabi's face. He started scratching his head in embarrassment and muttered, "I liked that movie as a kid, don't ruin it for me."

Before either one could say anything else, they both shared a good laugh, each others antics and how they just flowed. Matsu wound up speaking up this time, "Where did we leave off, Hana-tan?"

Hanatarou gazed up at the ceiling for a second then looked down with the answer, "You were about to explain why you used 'we' when you reminding me about how much of a bad idea it is to cheat on a Sekirei."

Matsu nodded, getting her thoughts back on track, "Ashikabi can wing as many Sekirei as he wishes. And you know what that means, right Hana-tan?"

At this, Hanatarou tilted his head, puzzled. "What does that mean, Matsu?"

Matsu suddenly had stars in her eyes as she suddenly wrapped one hand around her Ashikabi's neck and brought his head down between her breasts and pointed towards the window with the other. "Why, Hana-tan has to go out and wing more Sekirei of course~! Matsu is only Matsu after all. Brain-type Sekirei aren't meant to fight, and no Ashikabi of Matsu's is going to be defenseless!"

Hanatarou found himself defying his mother's gentlemanly teachings by talking with his mouth full, "Buh Masoo, I cah du dah." The self-made stockbroker broke free from his Sekirei's grip and stood up straight, trying to get the feeling of Matsu's breasts out of his head, "If I was to wing another Sekirei, I would only do so if she-"

"Or he," Matsu injected.

Hanatarou hesitated, but conceded the point, "Or he, is reacting to me. Good lord, did I just agreed to kiss a man? Never thought I'd see the day." He shook his head in disbelief and barked out a condescending laugh. Matsu giggled and was interrupted before she could say anything, "Oh, I had a pretty weird dream last night." #02 held her tongue and waited for him to continue, "A Sekirei by the name of Uzume spoke to me. She mentioned we were linked by fate, and I should ask you about it. Oh, and she sends her regards." Hana-tan stapled on that last part in a rush.

Matsu had a smile on her face that Hanatarou could only describe as victorious. The pervert reached into her cleavage and withdrew a cell phone. In a tone matching her smile, she asked, "Would you like to meet Uzume, Hana-tan?"

A/N: I don't know if you guys can tell, but I enjoy typing out this pair's interactions. Oh, and guess which part I was really hungry typing out.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

This is a direct continuation from chap. 3. I would've got this out to you folks sooner but I caught a cold trying to prevent my house from suffering flood damage. That and uni tends to start working your ass the third year in. Still lookin' for a proof-reader, beta, whatever you guys call it here. PM me if interested. Hope you enjoy the chapter folks!

#02 excused herself from the table and scurried up-stairs while hitting the speed dial to reach Uzume. A dial tone sounded out the first time and Matsu was all smiles. The dial tone gave a repeat performance and the bespectacled Sekirei had a much smaller smile now. The dial tone was currently on its third lap and Matsu's apparantly very thin patience was as well when the tone was abruptly cut off by #10's sing-song voice crying out, "Matsu! You're OK!" The last part had the slightest of questions attached to the end of it.

The red-headed pervert's beginning of a scowl vanished the moment the Veiled Sekirei answered and

decided to get right to the juicy part, "Matsu is better than ok Uzume-tan, Matsu has met and been winged by her Ashikabi~!" Neither Matsu or Uzume could contain their girlish squee; Sekirei are beings of love and the meeting of their destined ones is like for a human to find his/her life's calling and be able to do just that for the rest of his/her life. It not only brought immense joy to one's life, it completed them.

The busty brunnette immediately started firing off questions with a gradually growing blush and excited tone, "What's he like? Of course he's treating you nice, right? Oh, did you already consummate your marriage? Was his size bigger than average?" Uzume was wiggling the whole while she interrogated Matsu on her future Ashikabi.

Naturally the pervert caught #10's lack of questioning towards his name and her belief she's being treated well, confirming in her eyes that the Veiled Sekirei was Hana-tan's second-to-be. Matsu had enough of her calculating mind for the moment and switched completely over to her girl side, "Hmph! Hana-tan refuses to ravish Matsu for her honeymoon yet, but Matsu can tell he wants too~" The voluptuous red-head started preening at Hana-tan's attraction to her. Once again, the fun had yet to begin. "Oh, he mentioned you already, you know~? Matsu can't even enjoy a day with her man before some other woman comes and tries to steal him~? Really, did you have to react to him already?"

Matsu could hear the pout in Uzume's voice, "Oh shut up, you pervert! That's what happens when a former Disciplinary Squad member gets winged, their powers increase. Since you can telepathically or psychically or whatever, mess with electronics, doesn't it make sense you can, like, talk with people in their heads too? I'm sure brains are simpler to mess with right?" Unbeknownst to #10, Matsu was having a field day with Uzume's alternate perspective on her powers. She did raise a good point: Since she's one of the stronger psychics in the Sekirei Plan, maybe she was acting as an amplifier for Hantarou's ability to draw in Sekirei? Plus there was evidence of Uzume's brilliant deduction already; Neither Hanatarou or Matsu had dreams of the other, but the evening immediately after she's winged, from what #02 could understand, her Ashikabi had a rather vivid dream about Uzume. It's like Hanatarou is an electric guitar and Matsu is a speaker: The guitar can play on it's own sure, but you can't really hear it unless you're right next to the source. The moment Hanatarou figuratively plugs into Matsu, his sound gets a lot more powerful.

Matsu put a finger to her lips and in a contemplative tone murmured, "Well, that's actually a real good possibility Uzume-tan. Matsu, being a single number probably raised Hana-tan's EXP level really high, like an Ent*med or a trio of M*vers."

Uzume sweat-dropped and asked, "Uh Matsu, what are Ent*omed? Or M*vers?"

Matsu waved her hand dismissively and said, "Forget that Uzume-tan, I didn't get to tell you how severe a case Hana-tan had of morning wood this morning~!" Her perverted old man cackle escaping from her lips.

Before Matsu could continue gushing about the man in her life, said man called out from down-stairs, "Matsu~, I'm going shopping. I'll be back in 2 hours at the most. Is there anything you'd like? Dressed in a simple button-up white shirt with no tie, black slacks and his older, more comfortable pair of black loafers, he was at the door ensuring he had his wallet and phone with him.

"Ah, Uzume-tan, Matsu has to go, she's got to see off her Ashikabi~. Bye-bye~!" Before Uzume could even respond she snapped her cellphone shut and slid it between her cleavage.

#02 came bounding down the stairs straight to Hana-tan and handed her Ashikabi a rather large list. Before he could even glance down at it, Matsu's free hand grabbed his chin lightly and kissed him with passion known only to Sekirei. Hanatarou was taken aback for half a second but responded, if a bit half-heartedly; Sekirei may jump into their relationships but he was still human, plus his mother taught him to take these kinds of things slow. The red-head's set of sunflower-yellow wings blossomed from her back, illuminating the hallway, living room and kitchen from her position of just by the door. After an eternity in the enamored Sekirei's mind, she released her beloved Ashikabi, "Thank you very much for your consideration Hana-tan. Matsu is sorry for her extensive list, but please show mercy in disciplining your naughty Sekirei when you come back alright~?" With a radiant smile and a shine of honeyglow in her cheeks, she kissed Hanatarou once again, but much shorter this time and scurried towards the living room, waving good-bye for now to the object of her world.

Hanatarou was dumbstruck. While he wasn't quite familiar with the action of Norito yet, he was witness to its power increase, even if he wasn't aware of the cause of it. During and after the kiss, Matsu's psychic power was increased, and instead of just a lukewarm reception of what #02 was feeling, Hanatarou felt exactly what was running through his Sekirei's mind: The young accountant was the Wisdom Sekirei's universe. #02 recollected everything about him, from his smile and laugh and how it would set her heart to a jackhammer-like setting to back in the beginning when the stockbroker got annoying and threatened to call the cops on her. Her fear in that moment dispelled any doubt he had left. Their bond is not what a human's marriage is now, with divorce and annulments possible. It's not even like what a human's marriage was, he could treat the Sekirei of Wisdom as terribly as he wanted and she would still love him, until death did them part. Matsu's earlier comparison of a Sekirei/Ashikabi bond to the human ritual of marriage was done to better get her point across but it didn't even begin to describe what it really was. A Sekirei's love for their Ashikabi was undeniably and irreversibly unconditional. As a gentleman, he knew what he had to do: He had to respond in kind. Alas, life is not so simple as to know what one has to do and to simply do it. After all, Hanatarou is only human. He can't deny he's attracted to Matsu's razor sharp wit and it goes without saying she's absolutely stunning physically, but one doesn't just jump head-first into matters of the heart simply because your mind attempts to command it. The building of bonds for humans takes time and effort from both sides. While Matsu is most certainly trying with all she has, Hanatarou is ashamed to admit he can't answer in kind yet. And yet is the key word here; it's not like he can get rid of Matsu, she explained a winging was permanent, plus he told her he would accept responsibility. Now that he understood just what he meant to her, Hanatarou couldn't in good conscience give her the boot. Therefore, the only options were remain distant and make both parties unhappy or try to meet her halfway and both of them could experience bliss for the rest of their lives. And what sane man would willingly choose unhappiness over it's opposite?

And so, Hanatarou finally set off from his home, making a bee-line towards a clothes store before he had an idea he should have had before he took off. He re-entered his home and once again called out to his Sekirei, "Matsu~? Would you like to come shopping with me?"

From the living room, an audible "Hauuu~" sounded and out came #02, a look of shame with an added blush painting her beautiful face. Matsu approached her Ashikabi, fidgeting the whole while until she threw her arms around him and spoke, "Matsu is so sorry Ashikabi-sama~!" Hanatarou noticed her use of his official title and the "-sama" honorific and held his silence, "Matsu has still not shared all the info she should have with her beloved Hanatarou."

With a sniff and a re-adjustment of her glasses on her face, the Sekirei of Wisdom opened her mouth to continue until she was interrupted by a second voice coming from the living room, "Hello~? Is Hanatarou Tanaka home~?" the voice, undoubtedly male, called out. Both Sekirei and Ashikabi met eyes, Matsu with an expression of nervousness and the beginning of horror, the young accountant confusion and growing irritation, _Who the hell broke into my house __**this **__time?!_ He fumed in his head.

Hanatarou advanced to the living room while Matsu clung to his back, avoiding a direct line of sight with the television, knowing how he works. Once the self-made stockbroker got in front of the screen, the CEO of MBI, the Gamemaster of the Sekirei Plan, the Director, Minaka Hiroto was being broadcasted to them, in his usual white suit with cape and a ridiculous collar. Seated in his throne, with his hands joined and one leg over the other, smiled at the sight of the newest Ashikabi and the reddish-brown head of hair peeking out from behind his left arm and spoke, "You can come out from behind your Ashikabi #02 Matsu, I'm not upset at you anymore. Now that you're an active member of the Sekirei Plan, I'm giving you a pardon for your thieving actions earlier." The addressed Sekirei started to sweat even more and moved to Hanatarou's side, her crimes laid bare before her Ashikabi. The Director continued, "Considering your Hanatarou's background as the first from his family to graduate from a university and his stock portfolio, which by the way is fantastic!" The last part being directed towards Hanatarou, "It's always nice to see investors put so much faith in my MBI to keep rising. But I digress. Congratulations Hanatarou Tanaka, you have winged a Sekirei and have become an active participant in the Sekirei Plan! The rules are simple. The Sekirei must fight, fight and fight until there is only one left. The prize for the winning Sekirei is to be with their beloved Ashikabi forever. The prize for the winning Ashikabi is the chance to usher in the Age of the Gods!" The Director raised his fist and struck a dramatic pose that would make Jojo fans proud and went on, "Of course, if other countries learned of what we're doing and what exactly Sekirei are, there'll be war brought onto Japanese soil so it is imperative you, Hanatarou Tanaka, keep this a secret or MBI will retaliate with every resource at our disposal." Minaka paused to let this sink in then moved to conclude his speech, "If you've got all that, I'm afraid I've got to get going. It's not easy being the CEO of a company after all! Best of luck to you Hanatarou and to you #02 Matsu, and may the odds-whoops, wrong line. Anyway, good luck!" The T.V. turned off and the room was left in darkness and stiff silence.

Matsu didn't bother trying to roll what was revealed under the rug and decided to get it over with. She put a bit of space between herself and Hanatarou and sat down in seiza facing her Ashikabi. The sharp accountant also sat down, gave Matsu a loaded look. #02 knew what he was asking and bowed into dogeza and spoke in a low tone, "Matsu is deeply sorry for not letting you know earlier. Matsu is a, now former fugitive of MBI for stealing an object of great importance to them."

Hanatarou kept a neutral expression and tone when he responded, "I take it the reason you were a mess yesterday was because they chased you?" A miserable looking Matsu nodded her confirmation. Hanatarou resumed, "Considering their knowledge of me, even going so far as to examine my stocks, it goes without saying they know where I work, who my family are, where I live, which by extension is where you are and they could've barged in during the evening and enacted their revenge on you and possibly even myself?" The former Disciplinary Squad member was on the verge of bursting into tears, nodded and was about to beg for her Ashikabi's forgiveness until he continued, "I see. Well I forgive you." A wordless cry, probably an attempt at a "Huh?!" sounded out from Matsu as she looked at her Ashikabi with an expression filled with dozens of emotions, the most prominent being surprise, hope and the ever-present love. Hanatarou scratched at his head and leaned back a little, gathering his thoughts for a second before he spoke, "I did say I'd accept responsibility, plus I understand why you withheld the recent pieces of information. There's a very good chance I would've rejected you and had you leave if I knew MBI was hunting you. But I already accepted your contract, your bond, whatever you'd like to call it so while I'm very clearly in over my head, I accept your problems as my own." Apprehension leaked into Hanatarou's expression, "Although, I've got to as-"

The understanding Ashikabi couldn't get another word out as he was suddenly glomped by Matsu, her bust threatening to end his life in a way countless men and some women would be envious of. Tears finally flowed from Matsu's face, not sad ones, but tears of pure joy. #02 couldn't contain herself as once again her Ashikabi thought ahead to her reasonings and showed his ability to understand and keep his cool. "Matsu is-" sniff, "the luckiest Sekirei ali-" sniff," -ive~!" Hanatarou's arms grabbed both of Matsu's shoulders and tried valiantly to free himself from her loving Sekirei's massive bust but his efforts were futile; sure Matsu was amongst the weakest Sekirei physically but she still had surprising strength and there was no way she was willing to let him go anytime soon. If anything, Matsu took his resistance as a sign he wanted to motorboat her. She shook her breasts in his face as finally the lack of oxygen took its toll on the (lucky as fuck) Ashikabi and he blacked out. Matsu's tears finally started to slow and she noticed Hanatarou's limp state and released him only to see his soul trying to escape through his slack mouth, the soul muttering, "I have no regrets" as it begins its ascent to Heaven. Matsu's face was slapped by her own hands and she screamed, "NOOOOOO! Don't go towards the light Hana-tan, don't go towards the liiight~!"

-~Scene Break~-

Hanatarou's free hand rubbed his temples as he and Matsu continued on their way towards a department store. For the whole walk, Hanatarou had been scolding Matsu over her very inappropriate behaviour, from burying his head in her bust to motorboating herself. Both complaints were heard by #02 but she was in a state of nirvana, unable to fall from her radiant mood. She refused to let go of his arm and snuggled her face on the miffed accountant's shoulder. It was only as she was rubbing her cheek on him that he remembered he had a rather important question to ask his Sekirei. "Matsu, I need you to come down from the clouds. I've got an important question that needs my wise Sekirei's serious answer." Unable to ignore her Ashikabi's request, the Sekirei of Wisdom stopped trying to give herself a static charge and re-adjusted her glasses, awaiting Hanatarou's inquiry. "What exactly did you steal from MBI to bring them down on you like that? Minaka doesn't seem like the kind of guy to remove a Sekirei from his 'game' before it even begins unless it was for a good reason."

Matsu squirmed a bit, uncomfortable with the question. She knew he would have find out eventually but it wasn't the right time for knowledge of the Jinki to reach any Ashikabi, even if it was her own. All the while the perverted glasses withdrew into her world to ponder how to break it to Hanatarou, the Ashikabi in question was examining his Sekirei's reaction with close scrutiny; it was pretty easy to considering Matsu still didn't let go of his arm so she was right next to him this whole time. He concluded the answer to that question was either very personal or it was knowledge that would put him into some form of danger so he piped up, "You don't have to tell me now. Or ever, really. Ignorance is bliss after all."

#02 was struck speechless yet again. _Never let it be said Hana-tan will stop surprising Matsu._ She thought with a wiggle. Deciding to take a page out of a certain sake-drinking love freak, she slinked both her arms around Hanatarou's torso and squeezed her delicious bust against his back, hands exploring her beloved Ashikabi's chest. "Oh Hana-tan, Matsu knows you know this, but Matsu loves you." She snuggled her face in between Hanatarou's shoulder blades, the declaration of love painting the young man's cheeks with a rosy hue. Of course, they were walking down a rather busy street so such a PDA* was gathering a large amount of notice, from men with their own girlfriends drinking in the redheaded Sekirei's jaw-dropping figure to single men and woman looking upon the couple with jealous eyes. Thankfully for Hanatarou, they had finally reached the department store and he used it to his advantage, "Matsu look! We're here! Now, why don't you get to shopping while I go get us some drinks? They've got a good juice stand over by the elevators?"

The Sekirei of Wisdom took a quick moment to contemplate her Ashikabi's suggestion and decided to fire back her own, "Matsu would prefer it if you stuck with me while selecting. This way you can see whether you like what Matsu picks plus Matsu doesn't go over your budget too much?" She wasn't stupid; she knew Hanatarou wanted a quick moment away from her to breathe and recollect his cool front so the pressure towards the mental barriers preventing him from getting closer to her too quickly can reinforce themselves.

Hanatarou figured Matsu knew what his plan was, and while she rose good points, he still went for a change of tactics, "A good idea, but here's another. You shop here while I head up to the electronics department and see what I can do about your computer wishlist? I can't guarantee everything here, but I can set up payment plans for what I can't?" A fantastic move positioning-wise for the young accountant. He put up a solid defence with the part about payment plans so his wallet doesn't figuratively cry anime tears while simultaneously attacking with the knowledge of buying some of what Matsu asked for.

Their eyes met and both saw exactly what they were expecting: two tacticians battling for supremacy in this game of words. One of them was used to getting what he wanted by subtly planting the ideas he needed in the opposition's mind while the other simply didn't want to be parted from her Ashikabi, and the sudden tense atmosphere from the supposed couple took many onlookers by surprise considering they were just acting so lovey-dovey half a minute ago.

Matsu shifted her weight to her left leg and tilted her head in thought for a moment then uttered, "Fine." She leaned forward and in an ominously sexy tone whispered, "But you can't run forever." Hanatarou could be classified as a professional poker player if he knew how to play the game. His face didn't twitch, his eyes didn't roam anywhere. Too bad his valiant efforts were worthless, as Matsu could still get a fuzzy read on his emotions. She caught the slight spike of surprise when her words struck a chord in her Ashikabi. With the knowledge she was already wearing down the walls to Hanatarou's heart, she strode towards the clothing department, emphasizing the sway on her luscious hips, catching the eyes of every man in sight including her man and several women. The young accountant slid a hand across his face, shaking his head as if clearing a mental fog and proceeded towards the elevator to reach the electronics department.

Just imagine the timecard from that one Spongebob episode saying **2 HOURS LATER** here.

The rapier-witted pair fortunately traded cell phone numbers on the walk to the department store and they met up at the arranged rendezvous point of just outside the Northern entrance. Hanatarou handed Matsu the receipt and pointed out its delivery date two days from now, "I'm afraid I'm going to be at work during their normal delivery hours so you're going to have to sign for it. Since you specifically asked for all of this, although why without a single monitor I'll never know, you're in charge of making sure it's all in one piece when it gets here." He paused, then remembered a very important piece of information he just said out loud, "Wait, you ordered 3 of their most powerful computers available and you didn't get any monitors? That's like buying a house without bathrooms, why the hell did you do that?" Words cannot express the puzzled stockbroker's confusion; he knew Matsu was one smart cookie, how the monkey did she make such an obvious slip-up, and more importantly how did he not catch it before when he was right there in the store able to buy appropriate displays?

Matsu dismissively waves her hand. A bit of a chore, considering the bulkiness of her clothes bags got in the way while Hanatarou finishes counting what he had left in his wallet for grocery shopping, "Oh, that's alright Hana-tan. A friend of Matsu's doesn't live that far off from our home and Matsu happens to know her late husband has several machines that he unfortunately won't be needing anymore." She bowed her head slightly, giving the fallen a moment of silence then continued, "After we return our purchases, would you mind accompanying me to pick them up?" On a scale of one to Light, this move is a Light-level of deviousness; the friend Matsu speaks of is Miya, the land-lady of Izumo Inn which houses Uzume. She guarantees her Ashikabi meets his second Sekirei and spares his wallet from an even worse beating.

Said Ashikabi whips out his phone to check the time, his head and lips tilting as he ponders his Sekirei's request. "As long as you call ahead and it's ok with your friend we show up kind of late, I don't see why not." He responds. "We best pick up some take-out to eat though, no way we can put away your clothes, the groceries and whip something up before it's too dark."

Once again Matsu dismissively waves her hand, "Oh, don't you worry about food Hana-tan. Matsu's friend is a fine cook and she won't mind feeding an extra pair of mouths, as long as Hana-tan is polite."

Hanatarou dead-pans #02 for a moment, then dons a strange pair of sunglasses before shouting out, "Who the hell do you think I am?!"

Matsu returns her Ashikabi's dead-pan, not even dignifying the accountant's admittedly well-timed reference with a verbal response. Hanatarou throws away the glasses, startling some dumpster diving cat and scratches the back of his head, miffed. "Tough crowd..." He mutters and slouches a bit before continuing to walk to the local market.

Delicious time-skips!

Once the call was made and Miya (the landlady mentioned before) OK's a visit from Matsu and her man, plus the groceries were bought and tended to, the pair found themselves at the doorstep of Izumo Inn. Hanatarou took a moment to drink in the sight of classical Japanese architecture and nodded his head in approval; while his own home was more modern, he's a man who appreciates the classics. Matsu stepped into his line of sight and made a show of standing aside and quipped, "Welcome home, bocchan!"

Giving Matsu a repeat performance of his dead-pan, he fired back, "And you thought my references were lame!" The Sekirei of Wisdom just stuck her tounge out at her beloved Ashikabi, linked arms with him and knocked on the screen door once they got in range.

A moment later, the door slid open to reveal a lavender-haired young woman dressed in a matching kimono. About the same height as Matsu, her hair was laid down, would reach to her waist in length and had long bangs covering most of her forehead. While her figure wasn't as curvy as his Sekirei's, it had the advantage of being very much in shape; lean muscle could be noticed if one looked hard enough. Thankfully Hanatarou had enough tact to not stare so he didn't notice. Hanatarou dipped in a quick businessman-like bow he's grown accustomed to, then he spoke up, "Good evening ma'am. I apologize for bothering you so late, but I believe you are an acquaintance of my friend Matsu here." #02 pouted a bit when she was referred to as a friend but didn't interrupt, "My name is Hanatarou Tanaka. What's yours?" As he spoke, Hanatarou remembers he's not here on business so his manner of speech relaxes.

With a relaxed smile and closed eyes, Miya responds in her serene tone, "My name is Miya Asama. And yes, Matsu thankfully had the good grace to call ahead this time." A "Hrk!" could be heard from Matsu as the verbal jab struck, Miya giggled and continued, "Please, come in. Would you both enjoy some tea?" Ever the good host, the landlady stepped aside, allowing her guests to enter. They removed their shoes next to the door and were greeted by the smell of fish being seared and vegetables being boiled as apparantly they caught Miya as she was cooking dinner. "Why don't you both sit down at the table and join us for dinner? I made sure to cook extra when Matsu called so don't worry. You won't steal a meal from a resident." Once #02 and her Ashikabi were seated and given cups of tea, she resumed cooking. As soon as she lifted a ladle to stir the vegetables, a male voice called out from the first floor hallway, "Miya? I heard voices, do we have guests?" From said hallway emerged a handsome silver-haired man who went by the name of Kagari. Those more in the know however, knew him as Sekirei #06, Homura. Dressed in his usual attire of a white button-up shirt with his black coat thrown over his shoulder and black slacks, he moved to the entryway of the kitchen and answered his own question. "Yo. Name's Kagari. Nice to meet you." He extended a hand towards Hanatarou, which he rose and shook. He also aimed his hand at Matsu, feigning ignorance of them knowing each other, which Matsu naturally caught on to and took his hand.

Both guests introduced themselves and Kagari quickly shifted his attention towards Miya, "I'm off to work. Sorry I can't stay for dinner." #06 turned to the guests, "And I'm sorry to you two as well, to have just met you and go. It's never nice to be struck by a hit and run." The group of four share a quick laugh at the joke. Everyone wishes Kagari a safe trip to work and he goes off to help unwinged Sekirei as the Sekirei Guardian.

Miya finishes dinner a few minutes after Homura departs, serves her guests and prepares two other plates. "If you'll excuse me, I must go awake my other tenant."

Once Miya ascended to the second floor, Matsu turned towards her Ashikabi, "Are you ready to meet Uzume, Hana-tan?"

Hanatarou, who had decided to taste-test Miya's food, had his mouth full with a piece of seared salmon so his answer was quite tactful, "Mmh?" An audible gulp is heard, "Damn that's good...Oh yeah, meet Uzume? I didn't know she lives here." For being told he's about to essentially meet his second wife he's taking the revelation rather calmly. Then Matsu's words sunk in and he had to use serious effort to keep his face straight, "I see." As it turns out, Matsu's psychic ability has ranges for power levels, and in very close proximity she can really get a peek into Hanatarou's head. While on the outside he seems calm, his mental state is going through some turbulence. _So I'm about to meet my second alien wife who has super powers. Swell._ "You could've warned me Uzume lived here. I would've thought up something to say!"

Matsu couldn't help the scowl painting her face. _Why does Uzume get special consideration?!_ Granted, #02 broke into her Ashikabi's house without ever letting him know she existed before, but she's still a woman so of course she'd be upset. "Oh~? Want to make a good impression for your second Sekirei hmm~? Matsu guesses one's not good enough for Hana-tan, huh?"

"Oh, don't give me that! I couldn't prepare for so-" Hanatarou cuts himself off as he tilts his head, listening.

Footsteps could be heard, thunking down towards the pair. An audible yawn is heard from Uzume as her and Miya appear before Hanatarou and Matsu. Once #10 finishes her cat-like stretching, she opens her eyes to see Matsu, alive and well and her destined one both looking up at her. She froze, a warmth spreading slowly through her body and growing even slower in intensity. The Veiled Sekirei would've stayed there, staring at Hanatarou if Matsu didn't speak up.

"Uzume-tan~!" The Sekirei of Wisdom ran to her friend and soon to be sister and wrapped her arms around Uzume, slowing bringing her out of her stupor. "It's so good to see you again~!"

#10 fully regained her cognitive functions and hugged Matsu back, delighted to see she really was ok, "Matsu! You're really ok!" She grabbed #02's shoulders and extended her arms to get a good look at her. At the same time, this put Hanatarou in her peripheral vision and her eyes were glued back to him. "So that's your-"

Matsu raised a hand and slapped Uzume's mouth shut before responding with, "**Our **Ashikabi. Don't be shy now, go and say hello!"

Despite Matsu's earlier words of encouragment, Uzume was showing an uncharacteristic display of shyness; she slowly walked over and sat next to Hanatarou, fidgeting all the while. The silence was quickly getting thick and thankfully Hanatarou spoke up to break it before it got too bad, "Well. It's nice to finally meet you Uzume. I'd introduce myself but I already did." He bowed, this time not business-like, but respectfully.

He picked up his head to notice Uzume's light rosy hue had become a full on blush and her hands were over a heart, almost as if she was suffering an attack. Thankfully Matsu was in proximity and could read her Ashikabi's feeling of distress over #10's condition and interjected, "It's her reacting to you Hana-tan. You should wing her before it gets stronger." Hanatarou turned towards Matsu, a look asking if it was really alright. #02 smiled a rueful smile and nodded, his concern as touching as always.

The nervous Ashikabi decided the direct approach was the best approach, but not before asking for permission of course, "#10 Uzume, would you do me the honour of becoming my Sekirei?" He kept eye contact and his head raised, despite how embarrassing and twisted the fact he was essentially asking Uzume to marry him in front of his wife.

Uzume's breath caught in her throat. She opened her mouth to answer yes verbally and found words failed her. After she squirmed and grasped at the air for a second, she donned a look that said something along the lines of, "Fuck it." and grabbed her Ashikabi's shirt and pressed her lips to his. Bright white wings, bloomed from between her shoulder blades. If one looked really closely, you would notice the wings seemed to be made of cloth. Once the demand of oxygen was about to become too much for Hanatarou, both Uzume and himself pulled away simultaneously. Uzume rested her head on her Ashikabi's chest before speaking, "#10 Uzume, my silks are yours, forever and ever." Right as the pair caught their breath, Uzume captured Hanatarou's lips again, drawing a small wave of jealousy from Matsu and irritation from Miya. A few seconds in to their second round of tonsil hockey, Miya's aura starts to leak out and become the manifestation that gave her the moniker of "Hannya of the North."

A Hannya mask, with a dark cloud flowing behind it while it opens and closes its mouth floated behind Miya, while she smiled and spoke, "Uzume, you know lewd acts between unmarried couples are prohibited here at Izumo Inn." The mask behind her growled its affirmation.

Uzume and Hanatarou were in the mask's direct line of influence, so naturally they were terrified. Matsu was behind Miya so she got the long end of the stick and just shuddered. "Aw c'mon Miya, I just found my man! Besides, you know a Sekirei winging is past marriage, so can't ya let this one slide?" She paused, her voice losing itself for a moment then pressed on, "Besides, I'm not gonna be a tenant here anymore. I've gotta move in with my hubby here~!" She flung herself on Hanatarou snuggling her cheek with his. This whole time, her Ashikabi was muttering very lowly, although an occasional phrase could be heard, like "Why does its mouth move?" or "What the hell is that thing?" or something else along those lines.

Thankfully for the mental health of Uzume and Matsu's Ashikabi, Miya relented in her aura-based pressure and pondered Uzume's words. "Well, since you're no longer a tenant, I can't exactly force my ideals on you, but you can't violate the rules of my house either, as a guest. So I'll just ask you nicely to not do that again." The Hannya of the North's smile widened as she continued, "Now why don't we eat dinner before it gets any colder?"

Timeskips are one helluva drug

After promising Miya they'd be back for the monitors, several additional computers, 2 tablets and Uzume's stuff, Hanatarou and his flock found themselves at their home. After showing Uzume where the bathroom was, her and Matsu went in to bathe together. Hanatarou couldn't be more thankful; the whole walk back, both of them trapped an arm each between their cleavage and his resistance was on its last thread. It also didn't help he apparantly caught another tease with Uzume, who teamed up with Matsu to verbally poke and jab at him all the way. When words got boring, they'd both use their bodies in ways that made it hard to act rationally. He climbed the stairs and went to a room he hasn't been to in a week. Overlooking the east side of what he could see of Shinto Teito, in a spacious room sat a grand piano. Sliding back the piano bench, he rested his hands on the ivory keys. A graduation gift from his parents, he took a moment to relish in this familiar feeling. It's only been two days but it seems like it was in for one hell of a change. Not to mention, since he was part of the Sekirei Plan, his Sekirei had to fight until one of them was the last one standing. Not only would they have to eliminate their siblings, but they'd have to fight themselves at the end too. And he hasn't even seen a Sekirei fight yet. He shook his head and returned to the physical world. He looked hard at the piano in front of him and figured there was no better way to calm his nerves then to play them out. The few songs Hanatarou could play ran through his mind. He eventually decided on a medley of three jazz pieces he enjoyed when he was small (look up Sakamichi no Apollon medley on the toob if you want to hear the pieces). As he started to ping away at the keys, starting a little slow and with a light swing, he quickly withdrew into his own mind and his hands began to play on their own. As the music progressed, his body began to sway more and faster, keeping tempo with the music without a conscious thought. About a minute in, he began to grow bolder, adding more swing and greater contrast between volumes, throwing in crescendos and decrescendos. Not even twenty seconds later, a grin grew on his face as wide as he could make it as he really let go and just let the music flow. As the big finish loomed, he rose from the bench, almost slamming his fingers on the keys, willing the piano to play louder, faster, just **more**. When the final note echoed through the near empty room, he sank into the bench, placed both elbows on his knees and propped his head on his palms, sighing. He was starting to care about Matsu, and while he didn't know Uzume he could tell she was a nice person at least. He loved his parents dearly, especially since they made going through university so easy on him. But the one thing that holds the nearest and dearest place in his heart, and he'll never admit it to anyone, was music. Nothing brought him out of his shell quite as fast as performing a piece, any piece on his piano. He caressed the keys, a faint smile on his face as he brought down the cover and scoot the bench back to its position just under the piano. He turned around and saw both his Sekirei there, wrapped in towels and dripping wet. From the puddles formed underneath them, Hanatarou could tell they came as soon as they heard him start playing. Wordlessly they both advanced, grabbed a hand each, dropped their towels and dragged him to bed.

A/N: Well! That certainly took a lot longer than I thought it would. I'm sure you guys are like, "Did they fuck?! Dammit B. Suarez, do the lemon already!" That's...well not my territory or my forte, but I'll give it a shot as a second series dedicated to the scenes. The piano isn't really plot relevant, it's just emphasizing how much of a closed book Hanatarou was to the rest of the world before he found music. Don't worry folks, he'll find solace with the women currently in his life and the ones yet to come. I apologize this took so long to get to you folks, but life is a B. Despite being the longest chapter, and only by 1K~ words, I kind of feel unsatisfied with it. Sure, I've loosened up my writing style and injected more of my personality into it but it feels...wanting, still. I can't quite catch what it's missing. Oh well, enough rambling. R & R if it pleases you, or don't. I'll continue 'till this story is done regardless. Until next time, this is B. Suarez signing off.


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